In Balance
If only the title were true but, just like our motorcycles, we too have idiosyncrasies… usually where those motorcycles are concerned.
Where character flaws and lovable traits are discussed.
❝It doesn’t help the situation when even the other occupant of the household exclaims “just get an electronic ignition and be done with it…”❞
Ihave a character flaw, well several really, and the actual number depends on who you talk to at any particular time – in this case though it is to do with motorcycles. I’m sure there will be enthusiasts reading this who also have their character flaws pointed out regularly, either by those who share their lives or those who share an interest in all things motorcycle.
In the former group, sentences such as “you’re going to do what?!?” or “It’s just scrap…” are occasionally heard as our latest idea for exploring the world of dirt bikes becomes known, or a rare and valuable and needed part has been unearthed from an autojumble, acquaintance’s garage or some such source. The latter group, those friends who also suffer their own idiosyncrasies, will be equally incredulous at your chosen make of motorcycle or branch of the sport, if only because it differs from their true path.
Returning to my own character flaws, as they’re the only ones I am qualified to discuss here, I can allow the trait of fancying a go at a certain aspect of our sport is more curiosity than a flaw. A long time ago I realised perhaps it was unlikely manufacturers would be beating a path to my door with offers of works contracts but this wouldn’t stop me enjoying a variety of motorcycle sports on the principle of ‘just to see what it was like.’
The character flaw in this comes, so I’m told, when a suggestion is put forward to try something and it appears saying ‘no’ never occurs. This is one reason why my Can-am has sprouted an extra wheel and the prospect of trying an enduro and a long-distance trial with three instead of two wheels is featuring highly in the future. There are few tasks which need doing to ensure the bike will be correct for the job, but it’s an old motorcycle and such things are understood.
Alongside this Can-am is the bones of a Triumph which I’ve been hauling around workshops and garages for donkey’s years, it’s done most of its travelling in boxes though now can roll on wheels.
For some reason unbeknown to anyone, I decided it would be a great idea to see if this bike could be assembled using bits I had, could trade for and that sort of thing. A unit Triumph is a nice looking motorcycle, in standard form a lot of them have the panelling which Triumph’s MD Edward Turner decided the chaps who bought motorcycles needed, in order to remain clean and respectable on their way to work. It’s true, they did want to remain clean but most bought a Mini rather than a motorcycle.
I digress, along with the panelling, Triumph unitised their engines, starting with the 3TA, the basis of my project, and also introduced more modern electrics with an alternator, powering a coil and feeding a distributor. This distributor has been causing some issues, they’re mostly detailed in the workshop section of this issue but caused the editor to muse on his character flaws.
Using a distributor was common on British motorcycles of a similar to my Triumph, in some it replaced the magneto, whereas others were designed around this type of ignition. In order to have this bike fire up it needs a spark and there are many fine ignition kits on the market, none of which are difficult to fit and all seem to work exceedingly well.
However, I wondered if the electrical bits I had on hand could be persuaded to fire the bike up as Triumph intended… well I say ‘as Triumph intended’ but actually mean my version of it. The wiring diagram of such a motorcycle is complex to the likes of me whose thought process goes on the lines of ‘I’ve an alternator feeding a rectifier which sends power to a capacitor and coil then on to the distributor’ or at least I reckon it should. I don’t want the multitude of switches and relays built into the bike originally, all I want is the blue spark at the end of the plugs with no fuss.
Yes, electronic ignition will do this, but and here’s the character flaw, I’m curious to see if I can make the distributor thing work. To this end I’ve gone way past all reason checking this and testing that as power seems to vanish at the distributor.
To be honest I should have called a halt to this a long time ago, but there’s something in my psyche which makes me want to find out why something happens, or doesn’t happen. It doesn’t help the situation when even the other occupant of the household exclaims “just get an electronic ignition and be done with it…”
I have to find out why the bits, which all produce power on their own but not when connected, are frustrating me before I invest in a simple-to-fit electronic kit and then have a life again.